1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
It is possible to "understand" things without free will. An intelligent agent will try to understand the world around them (in some fashion, such as an internal representation and whatever inferences can be derived from it) in order to decide how to act in this world.
I doubt learning can occur without some free will so I don't think understanding will occur without learning.
Comment by platanthera_ciliaris at 16/09/2024 at 05:29 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Machine learning algorithms have memory of past events and they are able to learn from their mistakes and successes of the past to improve their ability to classify or predict things. They are widely used in our society. There is no free will involved in their decision-making, it's just computer programming that is executed line by line sequentially. Really, AI doesn't have to be very sophisticated in order to do this. Even insects, like cockroaches and honeybees, have memory and learning capability, notwithstanding their tiny brains.